Crosshairs on the Rich
by S80
Summary: It was just as it seemed; they were targeted because of their parents' money and business. The mafia was involved in this whole money ordeal, but they would never understand the complexity of the affairs they had gotten into until bodyguards appeared.
1. Inform the Aristocrats

_**Author's Note:**_ Oh my goodness... I bet this never gets posted. u; I'm not really keen on updating chapter fics, so I'd probably just leave this one in the dust after a while. Let's see how it goes! Waah, no pairings. But I like to hint at them?! 8D A little bit of shounen-ai? (It has the Host Club in it, for crying out loud!) I like to keep things canon with crossovers. Unless my crack-crossovers are because of crack pairings, eh-- This will also involve some OCs, but they aren't the focus of the story. Super slow updates, if I even have time/consider writing more to this.

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His golden lashes moved rapidly in a hasty manner, refreshing his vision with an unnecessary amount of blinking. "The mafia... is targeting us?" Tamaki Suou looked like a deer caught in headlights at such a statement. He continued staring at the man with said look.

"I believe he means that because we are the children of influential, rich families, that we are at the most risk of being captured and used as bargaining tools." In a voice all too nonchalant, Ootori Kyouya looked over the rim of his glasses from his blonde friend to the Italian man who had unexpectedly burst into the third music room. "That is correct, Ootori-san." The coolness that usually had its place around Kyouya was gone and his face had blanched a bit, making Tamaki look over at his friend. "Kyouya, what does he mean?"

Kyouya ran an uneasy hand through his hair and sighed, taking off his glasses in the process; it was a sign that he was truly stressed. "What Romario-san means is that we need to be protected." He glanced over at the suit and sunglasses Romario sported, reminding himself of his own personal security. "But I've told him countless times during our meeting that we could easily hire more secur--" Romario, not being one to lead people astray, interrupted Kyouya with a raise of his hand. "But this is no ordinary mafia, at least not the kind you would think about."

Tamaki almost wanted to flash back to the time when they cosplayed as the stereotypical mafia for the Host Club, but the ever-present seriousness in Kyouya's eyes intensified when he met with them. "I see, Romario-san. Have the others been informed?" Kyouya asked, replacing his glasses. Romario nodded firmly. "Yes, a few of the Cavallone men have taken the liberty to inform the rest of your friends. We've also stationed guards around the campus." Tamaki was uncharacteristically silent, his facial expression molded into a more fearful one. "It's really that serious?" he mumbled, opting to stare at the floor now. Kyouya placed a hand on Tamaki's forearm reassuringly, but his face looked grim. "I think we can trust Romario-san and the Cavallone family to protect us." At the sight of Tamaki's inclining head, Kyouya decided to remind him who their friends were. "And besides, our fellow club members have more than enough skill to deal with such nonsense." Romario stood by the door, wanting to explain that the situation was beyond the capabilities of a normal person, but he could see that the teen was trying to cheer up his friend.

He heard a familiar laughter and the sparkling purple tinted blue eyes of his friend looked into his own obsidian hues. "You're right, Kyouya." Pulling on a softer expression, the third son of the Ootori family embraced his friend in a gentle hug. Tamaki instinctively put his head on Kyouya's shoulder, muttering nonsense. "I must say, your sulky self is possibly more annoying than your jovial persona." Tamaki chuckled at Kyouya's remark and tightened the embrace. "There's the Kyouya I want to see."

Romario reached into his jacket and pulled out a compact walkie-talkie. "I've notified Tamaki Suou and Kyouya Ootori."

---

_"I've notified Tamaki Suou and Kyouya Ootori."_

"I've informed Mitsukuni Haninozuka and Takashi Morinozuka." Another one of Dino's men, Angelo, related in a forced, authoritative voice into the walkie-talkie. He clipped the device to his belt and fixed his suit jacket afterwards. At the moment, he was watching Haninozuka-san (or 'Honey', as the boy had instructed him to say) and Morinozuka-san ('Mori', as the same boy had said to call his cousin) in the midst of a playful spar session-- against other people, of course. Angelo watched nervously as Mori mercilessly swung his kendo sword and, in a blank silence, took down his opponent and bowed, already readying his strike for the next one. Honey was currently eating a slice of some exquisite chocolate cake (he had quickly took down his opponent with a terrifying force and declared a 'Cake-Out!') and watching his companion with a joyous expression. "Wao~ this cake is really good, Takashi! Do you want some?" Contrary to his offer, Honey stuffed a large bite into his mouth and left little cake left. Mori nodded in Honey's direction in a silent language that Angelo felt like he would never understand. The two were very close, he concluded.

Angelo grimaced and his pale blue eyes were wide; how could this kid stay so calm in a situation like this!? He had already alerted them, as he just notified everyone of his accomplishment. On a baseless assumption, he assumed the child-like senior would have been in tears, but all he saw was a quick look of distance and then a cute nod of his blonde head. _"We'll be okay, Angelo-san, don't worry about us!"_ Honey had said, Mori standing behind him with a more serious than stoic look in his dark eyes. Angelo couldn't help but to wonder if Romario had the same thing happen to him. Running a stressed hand through his pale wheat colored hair, Angelo sighed and slumped in the chair the pair had graciously provided him with. The dojo was so kept and clean; he couldn't help but to wonder how Ouran looked like on the inside. A familiar sense of queasiness made its way into Angelo's stomach as he recalled _his_ high school years. If that wasn't bad, Honey had resumed a dizzying sparring session (Mori stopping halfway through his own to scold Honey for not resting after eating) and he felt like he could be scared, and sick, for the both of them.

"Angelo-san, are you okay?" Honey asked from his position under Mori's hooked arm. The main in question bolted up from his chair and made a run to the dojo's restroom.

"You've worried him, Mitsukuni." Mori murmured in his deep voice, setting Honey down. Through Angelo's actions, Mori used it to try and convey how the situation made _him_ feel. Honey smiled sheepishly and faked his childish laughter. "Ne, Angelo-san shouldn't be so worried. We can take them, right?" Mori couldn't find it in his heart to say 'No.' to the unwavering determination in his cousin's voice.

If only Honey had seen the fear in Angelo's eyes when he had stammered, "The Mafia is-- out to get you."

The man couldn't even say the word 'kill'.

---

"Eh?" Their voices were in unison.

"So you're trying to say..." One of them branched off into his own tone.

"That the Mafia is out to kill us?" The other finished the inquiry, but his amused tone irked their informant.

Combined with their tone, Duilio thought he lost it with their immature bout of mocking laughter. "You kids think this is some kind of joke?" he growled dangerously low, glowering at the twins from behind his sunglasses. His gesture of annoyance only urged on the pair. Catty grins crept along their faces. Hikaru linked his arm with Kaoru's and they both rested up their free hands in balled up fists on their hips. "Sorry, we don't believe you." was their curt reply in unison and their tone was less than sorry. Duilio's right hand twitched as he reached for his wireless head piece (he disliked the bulk of the walkie-talkies) and pressed the button to transmit his message in a smooth voice: "I've informed Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin."

"Hey, Kaoru, he even went out and got a headset just to seem 'official'. This guy's a loser!" To further his insult, Hikaru stuck out his tongue and made a 'nyaaaah' sound. Kaoru mirrored his brother's movement to the second. Duilio sharply turned around in his laced loafers and started to ramble to his work partner in Italian, "For the love of God! These children don't believe me, Ermanno!" He smoothed back his already sleeked back dark auburn hair, using the same hand to rub the bridge of his nose. "I'm twenty nine! They should take me seriously, but they don't. If you weren't here, I'd have strangled them by now." Even though Duilio's hand twitched in anger, Ermanno knew he wouldn't ever actually make good on his threat; he simply had anger issues and was prone to raging now and then. Stepping past his senior with soft steps and hands clasped behind his back, Ermanno approached the twins-- who were mocking Duilio's outrageous gestures behind his back, and smiled brightly. "Hello, I'm Ermanno!" he chirped in Japanese, ignoring the string of Italian curses pressing their way out of Duilio's mouth with little restraint.

They stared suspiciously at Ermanno, his straight posture, the lack of sunglasses, the walkie-talkie clipped onto his belt and his open suit jacket. "You..." Hikaru started. "Are you also part of his trick?" Kaoru ended, his voice exposing a bit more belief than he had intended. "This is no trick." Ermanno said, his voice a tinge of playfulness. The facade of a smile on his face was hard to see through, and his open light brown eyes made his performance absolutely creepy. The twins contemplated a bit, intensifying their inquisitive looks on Ermanno. "You're kidding, right?" Hikaru scowled with anger underlining his voice. "Nope." the younger Italian man answered after a purposely-held out silence. Both twins put their hands behind their orange haired heads and lopsidedly grimaced. Duilio looked on with a slight grimace of his own; Ermanno really knew how to get straight to the point. "You're being targeted." he relayed again after another silence.

It was silent as realization dawned on the Hitachiin twin's features. Hikaru and Kaoru shared a shocked expression, Hikaru's mostly made up of fear and Kaoru's out of worry. "Haruhi..." Kaoru tepidly whispered. At the mention of her name, Hikaru snapped his fearful eyes to Kaoru's stiff face. "Has... she been informed?" He didn't bother to hide Haruhi's gender from the Cavallone men, because if Duilio and Ermanno were right, then that was the least of their problems. Ermanno hummed to himself softly and smiled, letting his eyes glance out the empty classroom window and rest on the section across the courtyard. "Duilio will be hearing from Rainero shortly if he is on schedule."

"I wonder how Tamaki took the news." Kaoru thought aloud, pulling his brother into a comforting hug. "Yeah..." Hikaru sighed and returned the hug, closing his eyes and resting his chin on his brother's shoulder.

"How sweet." Ermanno cooed distantly as he walked over to the window and took a seat on the large sill. Duilio neared him, but chose to stand, and looked at him with faded emerald eyes over the lens of his sunglasses. "I don't understand how you can convince people with your one sentence replies." He was speaking Italian, but even then he still lowered his voice. Ermanno leaned against the window with his shoulder and let out a flat, "Ha."

"When you are confident with your outward personality, the people around you will pick up on your confidence and give into your words." Ermanno yawned near the end of his statement and disrupted the smooth Italian. Duilio was used to the casual tone he spoke in, but it still riffed him how casual his junior could be. "Don't get too cocky, Ermanno, you know the boss doesn't like it." The twins were still huddled together when Ermanno stood and hummed again, walking to the front of the classroom to now sit stare at the chalkboard. "I'm not cocky." he mused as he picked up a worn piece of chalk and inspected it. Duilio was an onlooker to the twin's silent embrace and he didn't even bother to look at Ermanno when he started to draw on the green board. "Are you trying to look cool for these kids, Ermanno? Or are you just being an ass?" Duilio side glanced at Ermanno's back and looked at the picture he was chalking up. "Even if you are being an ass," Duilio grumbled begrudgingly, "your artistic skills are amazing. Boss, right?" With a flick of his wrist, Ermanno added Dino's smirk to the drawing and a few more strands of hair, then set down the chalk, walked around the desk and stood to admire his work. "A profile view is always the best to draw." he commented happily to himself.

The drawing was a side profile view of Dino. The quick, yet skillfully placed lines gave it character and Duilio could have sworn he saw the determination in his boss's drawn eyes. Hikaru caught sight of the drawing and uninterestedly looked at it, wondering whom Ermanno just drew; Ermanno and Duilio had been talking in their native tongues. The older twin felt isolated by their language and held on tighter to Kaoru. It wasn't a new feeling for either of them, but the people who were supposed to be protecting seemed just as bad as the ones out to kill them.

"Hitachiin twins," Ermanno drawled out, as if testing the word. He turned around to face the pair but did nothing to get closer. "We are your assigned body guards." With a slight grin he had offered the reassurance, and Duilio's muscular build backed up the assessment. "Our friends..." Kaoru started. "...have bodyguards too?" Hikaru ended for his brother. Duilio and Ermanno nodded together.

"We will always be near you, so don't worry about anything getting out of control." Duilio had dropped his angered tone for a calmer one. His co-subordinate merely nodded with that slight grin, only adding an amused, "Ah."

---

"Suou-san, Ootori-san, I and my partner will always be around, so please do not worry." Romario said after a long enough silence. On cue, a somewhat short, peach skinned man with short, parted in the middle brown hair entered the room and silently closed the door after him. "Greetings, Suou-san, Ootori-san. I am Tino and I will be assisting Romario in protecting you." Tamaki pulled away from Kyouya and bowed before the two Italian men. "Thank you so much," he said in a steadying tone. Kyouya did the same, already pulling himself back into tranquility. "You have my thanks as well."

---

Upon returning from the restroom, Angelo found Honey and Mori sitting on the floor, across from each other. "Angelo-san! Are you okay?" Honey asked with a tilt of his head. Mori looked over to Angelo, asking in his own way the same thing. "Oh, yes. I'm fine. I just got a little sick..." Angelo joined them on the floor, sitting cross-legged. The mats under his socks felt comforting. The three sat there for a moment before Angelo piped up with a quivering, "I am your bodyguard. I will do my best to protect you both. I'll be around at all times, so don't worry. Please don't worry at all." They let Angelo's almost pleading statement linger in the room-- all three of them knew the danger of Mafia business, but only two of them showed it.

"Would you like to have cake with us, Angelo-san?" Honey asked in his cute way, resting his head between Usa-chan's soft ears. The small boy caught the reprimanding look in Mori's eyes, for what he knew not, and withdrew into his own little shell, but Angelo answered his proposal with an unsteady smile. "I'd love to, Honey-san."

---

_"Hey everyone, I warned the girl already."_

Duilio rolled his eyes at the arrogance in the voice, even Ermanno's smiling face twitched lightly. Hikaru and Kaoru looked at Duilio's walkie-talkie, hoping that the Italian voice on the other end was safely guarding Haruhi. "Your friend's alright." Duilio grumbled in Japanese, sounding unpleasant since it made him sound even more intimidating. "Thank goodness!" the twins exasperated. They lit up at the news and brightened up considerably. "So, do we just do what we always do?" Ermanno 's mouth twisted into a curvaceous grin and his eyes narrowed. "A host club is the perfect opportunity for an assassin to sneak in." He took pleasure in delivering the news and looked over to Duilio to continue his explanation. "We'll explain once everyone's gathered." Ermanno already started to head out of the class, whistling a cheery tune as he did so. His partner sighed and muttered curses at the man's back before turning to the twin's and nodding curtly to them. "Wait!" Kaoru hesitated in his speech. "The people around us, will they be targeted too?" Hikaru had been giving Ermanno's back a dirty look when his younger brother asked the inevitable. Duilio's mouth was pulled into its usual straight line and he supplied them with a quiet, "Perhaps."

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_**End Notes:**_ I attempted to create original characters from Dino's family, as you can plainly see. I hope you got the vibe from them I was aiming for~ Next addition should be focus on the Reborn! cast now. Hopefully I have it up as soon as I write it.


	2. Vongola for Hire

**Author's Note:** Now it's the Reborn! side to this crossover. I don't want to call these 'chapters', so each 'section' will be hopefully around this length. I've never written for so many characters before. Enjoy~ And before any one asks, yes, Mukuro and his gang (consisting of Chrome, Ken, and Chikusa) will be in this. Later. Edit: I fixed the whole, 'new speaker, new paragraph' thing. D| How stupid of me!

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A few hours away from Ouran, there was a meeting taking place in a teenage boy's room. The Vongola family had assembled any and all persons available to help the Cavallone boss who had asked for assistance.

"I just want to clear up that we may or may not need your help with this," Dino said over a cup of green tea the infant Reborn had offered him. "But it's always good to have back up and Reborn here says you need some training." He wanted to branch off into a murmur of how a protection assignment might not have been the best for a group of growing teenagers.

"Nonsense, Dino, they can handle it." Reborn declared from his place on top of Yamamoto Takeshi's shoulder; he had picked up on the worry in his past student's voice. "Besides, they are the perfect candidates for the assignment." Reborn said before nonchalantly making his way to stand on Tsuna's head. "I was considering having you all enrolled into Ouran..." At Reborn's thoughtful tone, the serious faced Hibari Kyouya narrowed his blue-gray eyes at the idea of leaving Namimori-- to enroll in _another_ school, no less. "But I think we can split it up so that only half of you have to go undercover." The hitman regarded Hibari with a small nod and that seemed to calm the fire in his eyes.

Sporting his tied back silver hair, Gokudera Hayato inhaled on his freshly lit cigarette and puffed out a smoky halo. "Are you saying that we have to enroll in some rich kid school and protect these rich brats?" He sounded more annoyed than interested.

Dino ran a hand through his blonde locks and sighed complacently. "They aren't brats, Hayato." The Bucking Horse reached into his jacket to pull out a document folder. He tossed it onto the table towards Gokudera's direction and gestured for him to open it. "I'm well acquainted with the Suou's. Their son, Tamaki, is a generally friendly guy. The whole time I was there he talked to me." Dino stroked his chin in thought as his brown eyes rolled upward. "He always asked me about things like commoners and if Italian commoners all ate pasta to save money on food..." The blonde was clearly amused by the memories, but Gokudera's snort and 'Che' bought him to question, "What's wrong?"

Gokudera had pulled out the pictures of Tamaki and his family, or more correctly pictures of him alone, him and his father, or him and an elderly lady he assumed to be his grandmother. "He looks idiotic." Gokudera scoffed, passing the pictures to Tsuna, who had been leaning in to see.

Once the future Vongola Tenth had them in his hands, Yamamoto came from behind him to look as well. "Haha, he looks really happy in all these photos!" Tsuna could see the smiles Tamaki had in the professional photos and wondered why Gokudera had been quick to judge the boy. "He looks older than us..." the brunette muttered, passing the pictures to Yamamoto.

Once the baseball addict looked over them, he squatted down and showed Lambo. "This is Suou Tamaki," Yamamoto grinned and pointed to the blonde imposed on the glossy paper.

Lambo, in his glorious cow get up and all, pulled anxiously at his horns and made an exaggerated face that resembled melting wax. "Nyaa!! Lambo thinks he's cool looking!" He snatched the pictures from Yamamoto ("That kid is really playful!") and made a run for the door, only to have Hibari casually take the pictures from his outstretched arm and look over them with an inquisitive glare-- his usual look.

"Herbivore..." was the only comment he made before tossing the pictures back onto the table.

After everyone had their turn, Reborn returned the pictures into their envelope and handed them back to Dino. "The Vongola will be assisting you in this. Hopefully they do well."

Reborn eyed Tsuna with an innocent enough look, but it was still enough to make the brunette flinch. "They're rich! Don't they have body guards?!" He had already raised his hands in a weak attempt to protect himself from who knows what, but Reborn merely frowned. "Tsuna, you realize that the family after them is not made up normal people, right?"

Gokudera rolled his eyes and freed his lips of the cigarette momentarily so he could talk."Look, if Dino's family is already on the case, why do we have to help?" His remark was made from the fact that his beloved Tenth did not seem like he wanted to do this and from the fact that Suou Tamaki gave him a strange feeling of familiarity-- it wasn't something he enjoyed, either.

Lambo ran out of the room, quickly bored with all the talk and no play. Yamamoto laughed and was quick to get up to fetch him, but Reborn cleared his throat and told him it wasn't necessary for Lambo to be present."But then he'll miss all the rules of the game," the teen had said in true Yamamoto fashion.

Dino stared blankly at Yamamoto, as did everyone else (save Gokudera, who's glare was rather threatening).The Cavallone boss shook his head then leaned forward onto the table, staring into Tsuna's eyes. "Even though it seems like only Reborn wants you to do this, I think it'd be great practice for my little brother, too. So will you please accept this assignment?"

Gokudera's jaw tightened as he replaced the cigarette into his mouth; his boss hand an uncanny characteristic that kept him from opposing. "Um, y-yes?"

Dino smiled brightly in response as Reborn smirked to himself. "This won't be a quick assignment. For the most part, we expect it to last from a month to half a year."

"Half a year?!" Tsuna exclaimed, now wishing he had known just exactly_ what_ he had agreed to. Reborn stared at his student with a blank look. "Of course. The mafia is serious business."

Yamamoto laughed to himself. "These games take a long time to complete, huh?"

Gokudera groaned; now that Tsuna had accepted, he had no other choice but to show his loyalty and accept as well.

Reborn, not needing an affirmative from Gokudera (since Tsuna's answer was much as his would be), looked to Yamamoto and Hibari. "Yamamoto, Hibari, will you participate in this assignment?" The former gladly agreed and commented about how he hoped it wouldn't interfere with his baseball practice. Hibari, though, was less quick to answer and merely grunted a response. "I understand your concern for Namimori, but don't worry, we have it all covered." The disciplinary committee head swaggered dangerously out of the room with a snort.

Tsuna watched with an anxious expression as his senior left. "What did he say?" Reborn reclaimed his spot on Yamamoto's shoulder and smiled.

"He'll be joining us in our expedition. Yamamoto-san," the infant shifted his tone to a more casual one.

"Yes?" the boy answered.

"Please take me to Sasagawa-san so I may inform him of the assignment." Yamamoto picked up his school bag and bat that were resting against the wall and grinned. "I was going to head back to school for practice! So, even Sasagawa-san is going to play this game too?" Reborn remained silent as they departed, leaving only Dino, Tsuna, and Gokudera in the room now.

"What... did I agree to...?" Tsuna muttered to himself with a light headed feeling. Gokudera stood and looked out the window. He saw the sea of Dino's family break into two as one person gracefully made their way through the path. The bomber looked the man over. He smiled as if he had won some secret game and his eyes were alight with something close to mischief. The fact he did not sport sunglasses like the rest of Dino's men irked Gokudera no more than did the flickering glance he sent up towards the window.

"Oi, Bucking Horse, someone's here to see you," he droned, taking a seat on Tsuna's bed.

Dino perked up at the forewarning. "Ah, that must be Ermanno back with a report!" Tsuna imagined Ermanno to be another average Joe looking man among Dino's family, but saw that his expectations were far from accurate. As soon as the bleach blonde stepped into the room, Dino offered his greeting in Italian, "Ah, hello, Ermanno. How did it go?" Ermanno, only quickly taking note of the two teenagers in the room with a bemused look, looked back to his boss with a bright smile and eyes still alight with that smugness Gokudera had seen.

"All goes well, Dino~"

The Bucking Horse nodded complacently then quickly looked at Tsuna and Gokudera. "While you're here, Ermanno, why don't I introduce you to my cute little brother and his friend?" Tsuna stared at Ermanno. He no doubt looked foreign like everyone else he had met in the mafia. Gokudera had acknowledged the new presence by putting out his cigarette between his fingers and tossing it into the waste basket.

"Future Vongola Tenth," Ermanno switched to a natural sounding Japanese. "And his right hand man?" At the title, Gokudera's interested was stirred and he made eye contact with the eerie looking man. "What's it to you?" were his first words towards the newcomer. Ermanno gave a short, offhanded laugh before letting his eyes rest on Tsuna's curious face. "I've heard a lot about you from Dino during our tea time." Gokudera raised a brow at the comment and steadied his olive glare on the man.

"I love to talk about my little brother," Dino chirped. Ermanno pulled out a folded napkin from his open suit jacket and handed it over to Dino casually. "This is who's assigned to who, right?" Dino asked as he unfolded the stiff napkin. He laughed heartily at how 'cheap' it seemed and glanced at Ermanno before returning to read its contents.

"Duilio wrote it himself~" Ermanno sang.

The Cavallone boss laughed in even a greater volume."Just like him, eh?" He quieted to read over the list now with seriousness. Tsuna watched on, along with Gokudera. "Romario and Tino have the highly targeted ones, good." Gokudera's brow questioned the murmuring from the Bucking Horse. Romario was a very capable man, and if _he_ was assigned to this, the protection would probably be more than just sitting around and hoping nothing happened. There would be **action**, and the bomber grinned impishly at this fact. "Just Angelo for two people?" Dino cocked his head and looked to Ermano, hoping the man would provide him with a steady answer.

"The two he is assigned to have reasonable fighting talents and skills, and then you know Angelo when push comes to shove." He dully winked at Dino and the blonde continued reading.

"Duilio and you have the twins, that's fitting. And then Rainero has the least likely target. Heheh, Rainero..." Tsuna wondered about Dino's suddenly grim expression, but it wasn't a personal grim, just a doubtful one. "If Romario hand selected them all, I suppose he'll do well." He rubbed his temples and sighed, then bounced back to his usual demeanor. "Ah, Tsuna, Gokudera." Dino called, as if remembering something.

"Yes?" Tsuna blinked.

"Remember you guys are going in as back-up, so if anything happens, just wait for a given signal. Each of these men has a different way of calling for help unnoticed. Ermanno will show everyone those signs." He gestured over to said man with his honey brown eyes before standing and walking past him to the doorframe. "I have to go to the school now to enroll you all. Ermanno should already have uniforms for the ones he picked to go undercover."

Gokudera's jaw dropped open slightly. "You mean it's already been decided who's going?!" If he weren't there to protect his tenth, he would be crushed!

Dino nodded quickly before nearly tripping over his feet, only to be balanced by Ermanno from behind a moment later. "Thanks, Ermanno. Now I have to go. See you all later! Ermanno will explain." With that, the Cavallone boss could be heard falling down the stairs before gracefully stepping outside and shutting the door behind him. From the window, Gokudera and Tsuna watched his car disappear as the droves of his family piled into vehicles themselves and left.

"Does everyone else know we're going to meet again?" Tsuna mumbled to himself.

Gokudera's eyes flickered over to Ermanno before answering. "Reborn's with Baseball-Nut and Lawn-Head, so they'll probably know. They might tell that Hibari guy while at school."

Ermanno tilted his head as his grin waned into a smile. "Don't forget about me!" He walked over to occupy the chair Dino had been sitting in earlier and sat with a straight posture on the edge of the seat.

"Who's going undercover?" Gokudera quickly asked, the assertiveness in his voice a little too strong for Ermanno's liking. With a suave smile, Ermanno kept true to his short, one-statement replies and related the list calmly.

---

"What's going on?! Hibari-san is in an extreme rage!"

"Haha, he just started to attack everything..."

Reborn watched from Yamamoto's shoulder as Hibari walked past an unsuspecting tree then snapped it in half with an immense strength with a swing of his tonfas. "I told Dino to tell Romario not to pick Hibari for the undercover assignment, but apparently Romario had Ermanno do it."Yamamoto was about to open his mouth to ask Reborn who Ermanno was before Ryohei interrupted.

"So it's Yamamoto, Hibari, Octopus-Head and me going under cover? Extreme!" Ryohei did a fist pump, but sweat dropped when Hibari ran a group of first years behind Namimori High and screams could be heard. "How about Sawada-kun?"

Reborn shrugged. "Ermanno didn't pick him. But I trust in Ermanno's judgment, even if it doesn't seem logical at first glance." Reborn ignored the bloody massacre happening just behind the building as he said to Yamamoto, "I wouldn't stay around here long if I were you. Same to you too, Sasagawa-san. Please keep your schedules clear for tomorrow's meeting." Ryohei exclaimed in the affirmative and disregarded Reborn's warning to run off to the boxing club's room. "How about you, Yamamoto? Are you going to practice today?"

The baseball player laughed and smiled sheepishly, twirling his bat on his free shoulder. "I practice every day, rain or shine, kid!" Reborn smiled in his casual way and stayed perched on the boy's shoulder, not even bothering to glance in the direction of Hibari's rage induced massacre.

* * *

**End Notes:** Oh my, some of these characters I'm not so used to writing~ I suppose this will be a practice for me, then. I hope this chapter answered a few questions. D| The next chapter should cover their 'official' meeting. We'll see where it goes from there, eh? I hope you enjoyed this segment. And much thanks for the reviews.


	3. Distaste and Work Go Hand in Hand

**Author's Note:** I lied about the meeting being this chapter. I have so many plot holes, it's not even funny. This feels more like a rough draft (the whole story) and if I ever find that I want to fix it up in the future, I may. And I'm flattered by all the reviews-- I never thought people would like this crossover that much. And... I took (mostly) everyone's advice with the whole 'new speaker, new paragraph' thing. But, my goodness, ladies and gents! I can read a suggestion once and remember to fix it, no need to remind me multiple times~ Mayhaps I get some 'fanart' underway for this when time presents itself. School is loading me down with lots of work. On the other hand English class is teaching me how to structure better sentences. -Happy.- I'll get around to 'editing' the first two chapters when I have time. Thanks for all the reviews/alerts/favorites!

* * *

"Haruhi!" the twins exclaimed as soon as she pushed open the doors to the third music room, a devilish looking man in tow.

_H-hey! Who's that?! _Tamaki glowered at the smug grin the young man had as he went into a half-hearted 'father' mode. "Romario-san!" the blonde cried, hoping he would take care of the man.

The called for man indifferently said to Tamaki, "Relax, Suou-san, that's just Rainero; he is your friend Haruhi's assigned protection." With a charming grin he pushed Haruhi forward gently and ushered her into the room before closing the door.

Rainero sported a smirk like no other, eyeing Tamaki with a challenge with his next course of action. "Someone could take you out from behind, and that wouldn't be nice of me to let that happen to a cute little lady like you," he almost purred to Haruhi. Romario sighed at the moves the new recruit was putting on.

"Thank you, Rainero-san." Haruhi blankly thanked him and marched forward to be embraced in a smothering group hug consisting of Kaoru, Hikaru, and Tamaki.

"Haruhi, you're safe!" The three all cried in their own special way for her protection, and in unison they glowered darkly at Rainero. "No way he's the one," Hikaru scoffed, pulling Haruhi closer to himself. "Oi, 'Rainero', was it? Don't you dare touch a hair on Haruhi's head," Kaoru warned, causing Hikaru to look at him when he pulled Haruhi closer to himself. Tamaki was left out of all of this and instead turned on his charm.

"Rainero, yes? Allow me to introduce myself," Tamaki said politely. He made his way out of the group hug and stood before Rainero. From behind Tamaki, Romario gave Rainero a perplexed look of confusion; he also had no idea why the teens were such a whirl of oddities. "Yeah, Rainero's my name," the young man smirked, arching a brow at how Tamaki now offered out his hand in a greeting to shake.

A snicker was evident in Rainero's throat as he swiftly took the outstretched hand and shook it-- a typical Western greeting. "I'm Haruhi's father~" Tamaki sang, starting to shake Rainero's hand with a faster pace.

"Really? I don't see the resemblance," the Italian related with a sarcasm that had even Duilio, who had been talking with Romario, reeling his head over to watch.

"Well, I am," Tamaki's smile was still charming as ever, but to the trained eye, it was put on out of polite manners. The half-French, half-Japanese teen tightened his grip on Rainero's hand and shook harder. Kyouya did not join the group with their blank on looking of the obviously domination-related handshake, instead opting to type away at the laptop on the small, round table in front of him.

Duilio muttered under his breath, ignoring the placid look Romario sent his way. "That kid really needs to learn some manners," he rolled his eyes from behind their shaded frames and turned away to stand in a corner to handle a private call. Romario sighed then cleared his throat to gain the now furiously hand-shaking men's attention.

"Got somethin' in your throat, _anziano_?" Rainero unexpectedly released his grasp on Tamaki's hand, the blonde face planting from the force he was still exerting afterwards. "Should I get'cha a glass of water or somethin'?" The young recruit smirked impishly at Romario's expression; it was very aware that even if he did request a glass of water he would not be getting one any time soon. "I could run down to the fancy cafeteria they've got 'ere and buy you water made of _di dio_ tears!" His tone became overly snappish and Romario did not appreciate the gleam of malice in his dark sea blue eyes. He switched his speech into Italian to keep his meaning hidden from the others. "I bet you these kids get their asses hand wiped by lower-class peasants. Damn rich people," he scoffed.

Tamaki was recovering from his comical face fault with the help of the twins when Romario grimly frowned at Rainero. Rainero had always had a dislike for the rich, coming from a poor family in Italy that was enslaved to the mafia doing less than menial things. Dino had given him a chance to see the 'bright side' of the mafia -- a less dirty and bloody path -- but still dirty and bloody nonetheless. "Calm down, Rainero, no need to get personal."

"They don't know how good they have it! We're their fall guys if anything happens!" Rainero's devilish face started to stain with gut-wrenching hate as his smirk grew into a twisted grin. "I'm only here because Boss wanted me to have more 'experience' as a _mafioso_, but I bet he really just wants me to get killed in this 'mission'!" Complete with air quotes, Rainero's tone and posture grew positively tense and hostile. He glowered at everyone in the room before stuffing his hands into his pockets and letting out a childlike huff. "Now these guys are going to think I'm crazy or somethin', ha, shoutin' in a language they don't know, lookin' so mad..." His face was still twisted in an angry sneer, but he had calmed down considerably. Romario nodded to his outburst, knowing not to comment lest it urge him on even more.

The room had grown considerably quiet. All eyes were on Rainero. Duilio was busy with his cell phone in the corner of the room, but his squared shoulders gave away the fact he heard every word accusing the Cavallone boss of being just as heartless as the family that enslaved Rainero's family.

"Sorry all~ Just had a relapse." Rainero's flippant tone gained attention from everyone in the room save Duilio. "It won't happen again." With pleading eyes he looked at Romario, silently begging him not to let their boss know the implied hateful words of his. His tone, however, stayed a cocky one. "Great men have great emotions, you know," he puffed out his chest with a certain sense of pride when he noticed Haruhi staring at him with what everyone else had on their face -- shock.

The foreign, Italian men in the room consisted of only Romario, Duilio, and Rainero at the moment. Romario's assistant Tino had been sent out to scout out possible places attempts on the Ouran students' lives were the highest and Ermanno had taken the hour-long ride to Namimori to inform Dino personally of their actions thus far. Honey and Mori had yet to arrive, most likely to bring with them the last of the foreign bodyguards, the queasy Angelo.

Duilio groaned into the cell phone, unknowingly lighting Ermanno's reserved smile on the other end of the line.

"I see Rainero is handling the environment well," Ermanno hummed, his pale brown eyes darkened with his dry humor.

"He's doing great," Duilio rolled his eyes and continued on in a business-stern tone. "You've told Boss everything we've done so far, right? Tell him Rainero's doing okay while you're at it." He merely heard the light chuckle of his junior and a fading 'ah'.

Absent-mindedly fixing his sapphire cufflinks, Ermanno talked in his casual way into the blue-tooth headset. "Dino left already." His smile grew crooked at the disapproving grunt on the end of the line. "But I'll be seeing him in a few hours." After messing with his cufflinks the man did a double take in the mirror and was pleased with what he saw. "Tsuna and Hayato are waiting to follow me to the meeting place." Duilio had offered a quick '_arriverdeci_' before his junior hung up.

He was still looking in the mirror, now staring into his own pale eyes barely covered by equally pale lashes. "Ah, Dino is so stupid sometimes. Kids should not be doing the jobs of adults." Ermanno's tone was jovial and kept quietly to himself. He left the Sawada bathroom with an eternal smile plastered on his face. Facade or not, it was his job to remain calm and protect not only the Ouran students but the -- as he put it – _children_ from imminent danger. The question of whether or not he liked the work he did always ended in a bemused hum of him brushing the topic away from his mind.

Tsuna and Gokudera were idly minding themselves in the living room; Tsuna nervously looking down at his shoes while Gokudera took to staring at Tsuna.

"Ready?" Ermanno tilted his head and let his smile dwindle into a more relaxed hint of a smirk.

"It's... a briefing? Why do I have to go?! I'm not going undercover--" Tsuna was about to go into one of his incoherent babbling sessions until Ermanno pressed forward.

"You need to be there, as you are the head of the family, no?" He offered a trifle little smile to both Tsuna and then cut his eyes to Gokudera. "And you'll be attending as well." Ermanno turned on his heels and headed for the door. He set a hand on the doorknob when the door opened on its own accord and Tsuna's mother walked in.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Nana blinked worriedly and checked to see if the door had hit Ermanno, but the man had stepped just out of its range.

"It's fine, miss~" He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked past her casually enough. Tsuna bid farewell to his mother and hesitantly followed Ermanno out the door, Gokudera close behind.

Shifting his eyes at Ermanno's air of suavity that surrounded his casual steps, Gokudera pondered on the idea of if Ermanno actually cared about any of this at all. He had been friendly enough with Dino, and the genuine sparkle of adoration was very evident in Ermanno's eyes during the conversation with his boss. Gokudera noted how casual Ermanno had been with Dino. Not knowing if he was just being paranoid or his gut just did not settle well with Ermanno, he volunteered to sit next to Ermanno in the limo that had pulled up, keeping Tsuna away from the man.

"So," Gokudera bit out, almost holding back any suspicion he had, "how long have you been with the Cavallone family?" His pale green hues flitted over to Ermanno's impassively amused face.

"For a while now, I've known Dino since we were teenagers," Ermanno hummed delightfully and drummed his fingers along the car door's armrest.

Tsuna shifted nervously in his seat and looked from Gokudera's studious glare on Ermanno to Ermanno's bemused smile and relaxed eyes staring out the window. "Um, Ermanno-san..." Tsuna adverted his gaze quickly when Ermanno smoothly looked over to him, Gokudera still stuck in his glowering observing. "You never told us exactly why we're both going," he had muttered, but he locked gazes with Ermanno, not wanting to look more timid than he already looked. "If we aren't doing anything, why should we go?"

Gokudera quirked a brow and whisked his head to look at Tsuna. "I thought you wanted to go!" At the possibility that all of this was not necessary and his friend's whims swayed the other way, Gokudera was sure he could manage to distract Ermanno with a flash bomb and get himself and Tsuna out of the limo with little difficulty.

"Ah," Ermanno chuckled to himself. "Cute, cute~" he commented on Gokudera's brusque loyalty. Those pale brown eyes of his took in Tsuna's hesitant posture of defiance and uncertainty. Ermanno replied in a smooth enough voice, "You will instill confidence in the Ouran students that your family will do everything in their part to protect them efficiently and without fail. That is your job."

He sunk back into his seat and mirrored what he was doing in the living room before they had departed; staring at his feet. Tsuna could see Gokudera looking at him from the corner of his eyes and because of it turned his head to face out the window. Tsuna let out a small gasp as he noticed the scenery had changed from an urban Namimori to something akin to a gardened forest. If the thicket of trees framing the rugged dirt road could reflect his current feelings, Tsuna was sure they would have been constantly withering and greening again, cut down then grown back, swayed by the wind then hold ground steadily. It had not even been one day! He let out an audible groan and alerted Gokudera to his worries.

"It'll be fine, Tenth! Don't worry," Gokudera, being the kind to worry along with Tsuna whenever convenient, produced his pack of cigarettes from his pant pockets and quickly lit up inside the limo. Ermanno had reflexively pushed the button that rolled the windows down before Gokudera even had his first puff.

The lengthy car ride consisted of Ermanno humming merrily to himself while tapping his foot, Gokudera keeping his eyes wary of the mysteriously happy man, and Tsuna grimacing out the window at all the trees.

Tsuna did not do well in the silence and before he knew it had brought up the subject of Dino again. "Ermanno-san, you never told us how you actually _met_ Dino-kun," he turned in his seat and looked past a grumpy Gokudera to meet eyes with the man.

Ermanno's humming became excited and he parted his lips to say in a dark amusement, "_Amicu ca non ti duna, parendi ca non ti mpresta, fuili comu la pesta_." Tsuna could have thought he saw him snort before looking back out the window. "Hayato."

Cringing at the use of his first name, said as if they had been friends for the longest of time, Gokudera answered with a bitter tone, "What?" The Italian proverb Ermanno had recited did not sit well with him either.

"The smell of smoke lingers in my lungs."

The Vongola Storm Guardian gave a harsh, 'heh' before extinguishing his cigarette in the car's ashtray and disposing it into the compartment located nearby for such things. "Do I get to do anything any time soon?" His tone was impatient and matched the fire burning in his cool eyes.

In a flippant tone that mirrored his eyes, Ermanno waved Gokudera off with a light, "Not yet."

The answer was not one Gokudera cared to hear and he showed it by sinking down into his sink and biting his tongue to keep back from cursing. After all, Tsuna did not seem to oppose the offer. It would have been in bad taste to act up now, and in such a small space that they would be in for who knows how long.

Ermanno continued his soft humming, not bothered in the least by Gokudera's now wayward glare and Tsuna's gaze that seemed to give away the fact he was contemplating on all of this.

It was not his job to care; it was only his job to do what Dino said.

* * *

**End Notes:** I hope this is easier to read now~!! Ahaha! Updates are going to be really slow, but I have the basic plot set up. (I may add in a few 'flashback' chapters later on to further explain the original characters' stories, but people read fanfiction only for their fandom, not original characters. I must remember this.) Ah, I think I should take it slow with how fast the story moves along. I hope the original characters aren't too intruding. And sheesh, writing for this many characters is very difficult to keep up with. Haha!

**Translations:**

_anziano _- old man

_di dio_ - God's (if the rule in Spanish applies to Italian!)

_arriverdeci_ - until we meet again (formal)

_Amicu ca non ti duna, parendi ca non ti mpresta, fuili comu la pesta_. - Friend who won't give, relatives who won't lend you a hand, avoid them like the plague.


	4. Reluctantly Ready to Play

**Author's Note:** Perhaps I'll pace out this story at a terribly slow pace... What has it been? A year! I have no idea. -u- I have the initial beginning, middle, and end already planned out. Now comes the process where it sits in my mind and grows more precise. Updates are rather few and far in between, as you can see, but I'd really love to finish this. My apologies for how drawn out and utterly full of forced writing this chapter is!

* * *

"Um, Ermanno-san..." Tsuna stirred from his impromtu nap against the sling of the seatbelt and rubbed his eyes. The world zooming by him on the outside had changed from the rugged forest to a drastic splash of cityscape and speeding highway cars. His mouth dabbled open, but no words came out as he intended. Quickly, he cast a look at Gokudera with inquiring eyes. His friend shrugged, making the act of being bored and looking alert one of ease. "Where are we?"

The musical hum that Ermanno always made was unrepressed this time, as if he took joy in answering Tsuna. "We're heading to the school." He grinned widely, albeit cheaply, and did not look perturbed by Gokudera's scowl.

"What the hell! Why wasn't the meeting closer to Namimori? We've been driving for at least an hour!" Gokudera boxed his shoulders and unknowingly pulled out a few sticks of dynamite strapped to his leg. "Bastard, did you lie to us?" He was about to press on in his rage and ask _why _they were already heading for the school, but a sound akin to a sputtering engine curtailed his rage. The car swerved violently to the left, Gokudera supporting himself so he would not crush Tsuna. Ermanno, though, anticipated the action and was leaning the opposite way to balance the violent tug. "Tenth! Are you okay?" After looking over Tsuna and seeing no signs of immediate injury, he stood up in his seat - crouched because of the car's ceiling - and knocked rapidly with his knuckles against the limo's partitioning screen. "Oi, driver!"

Immediately the driver pulled off to the side of the road. He lowered the partition, anxiously sweating as he apologized profusely to a Gokudera who looked very unforgiving. "My apologies, good sir! There seems to be a problem with the engine." The portly limo driver stepped out of the car before Gokudera could retort with a smart remark.

Instead, Gokudera opted to getting out of the car along with everyone else. "Great, now were stuck on the side of a freakin' highway." He shot a menacing glare to the driver before looking over to Tsuna and Ermanno walking over to the hood of the car. "You okay, Tenth?"

Tsuna nodded timidly, not even bothering to remind Gokudera he had just asked that a few minutes ago.

"What the hell happened?" Gokudera growled, taking his place next to Tsuna to see the car hood being lifted. A plume of smoke instantly bellowed upward. The driver coughed and tried to wave the smoke away. "Step away from the car," Gokudera gently pushed Tsuna back, placing him behind his own body. He cared little of what Ermanno would do, but saw the man take a few steps back himself. Gokudera wondered how calm Ermanno could be when he cheerfully warned the driver to move as well.

The driver removed his chauffer hat, dabbing at his forehead with a cloth. "I can't tell what happened until the smoke clears." He looked over apologetically to the three, receiving forgiving looks from everyone but Gokudera.

Raising a gloved hand, the chauffer was about to speak, but a dulled _crack_ of a gun going off behind him made him duck. "Everybody get down!" he yelled. Another dull _crack_ punctured the thick smoke billowing from the car, a bullet nearly lodging in Tsuna's foot. "Hii!"

"Tenth!"

"Interesting~!" The jovial pitch hastily thrown in the end by Ermanno could not agitate Gokudera anymore than the gun shots had.

Gokudera was at the ready, sticks of dynamite poised between his fingers. Even though the attempt was futile (a sniper would have kept his distance, and Gokudera knew this) he wanted to show whoever did this that he would take his life if need be. "Bitch, I'm going to kill you!" He did not let his anxiety show in his confident stance, and as his eyes quickly darted to and fro, Gokudera did a fine job keeping Tsuna behind him. "You stupid bastard!" He directed this comment towards Ermanno. "Aren't you supposed to help or something!"

Ermanno had rested his head lazily on his crossed arms. "Shouldn't you get down _or something_?" To emphasize his point he rolled over to Tsuna, who was also on the ground, propped up his arms and kicked back his feet. The stupid grin that he purposely put on to mock Gokudera went unnoticed.

"I'll do whatever I want!" Gokudera expected another shot to go off. He really expected this person to try their hardest to complete this deadly task; it would have made his courage more honorable than reckless. The car continued to smoke on, and no more shots were fired. From previous tales he had heard of snipers and their work, he found it odd the person did not use a silencer at such a close distance. He found it _insulting, _even. "Che, how are we supposed to get to that school now?"

One would have deemed it unsafe to stand up again, one would also have a pounding heart and sweat beading their forehead, wondering if they would live or not, but one was not Ermanno. In a deep Italian he stated, "Go on foot. Signore Marco, call forensics." Ermanno's tone became more authoritative, not at all clashing with his care free look. "I want a confirmation on those bullet. Have the ballistics team run through bullets belonging to the Lomazzo family. This reeks of their style." He cut off his remark with a smirk. He returned to his accented Japanese and offered a hand to Tsuna. "We'll be going on foot."

Tsuna stared blankly at Ermanno, nervously taking his hand and using it as leverage to help himself up. The sniper had left him shaken. He tried desperately to stop the shakes, putting on a not-yet-steady face of determination on. "Ermanno-san..." Tsuna's voice gave away his current state, quavering in all the right places. "Who are the Lomazzos?"

There was a quick turn of the head at the question, from both Ermanno and Gokudera.

"You'll learn that soon enough." Ermanno answered briskly.

"The Lomazzo family is a bunch of spineless cowards is what he meant to say," Gokudera scoffed, still warily looking around. "How far is the school?"

The Cavallone mafioso gave no sign that he had heard Gokudera's explanation of the Lomazzo family, but he gave heed to the question asked of him. "From here, a twenty to thirty minute walk to the general vicinity." Ermanno pulled out a silver pocket watch connected to a small chain from his open jacket and peered at it with a stoic look. "Let's be quick." He gave a quick salute to the chauffer before turning on his heel and starting off on a merry pace down the highway.

Gokudera glowered at Ermanno's casualness. He helped Tsuna up and made sure to have Tsuna walk ahead of him as he guarded his back. The attempts he made to be prepared for anything were reduced as Ermanno told him to put away his sticks of dynamite.

"We're walking down a highway, don't cause a bomb scare~"

The silver haired teen huffed under his breath and instead kept to a surveying the building infested area with his sharp eyes.

* * *

Umehito Nekozawa was currently shrieking at the light the newcomer had let into his dark hole of a room. "The light! It burns!" He quickly scurried into a corner of the room that had retained its darkness.

"This room is mine now. Get out, herbivore." Hibari icily disregarded the other members of the Black Magic club and snuffed out the candles that were lit. "Don't light a fire within the school." His dark eyes cut over to the rest of the Black Magic club, and it was enough to send them fleeing out of the room.

"Hey, hey, what's your name? Hibari-san? You know they don't give up without a fight," Kaoru started, watching from the door to the clubroom.

Hikaru found his spot next to Kaoru and chimed in, "You should be careful, they'll curse you." He didn't sound particularly worried about it, his tone implying more that he wanted to see what this Hibari Kyouya's reaction would be.

The prefect smirked and quickly produced one of his tonfa out from under his Namimori cloak. "Then let them fight me."

Hikaru and Kaoru quickly retreated back to the rest of the group as quickly as possible. "Do commoners always carry weapons like that, Mom?" the twins whispered.

Not even showing he had heard the question, Kyouya continued to clack away at his laptop while sitting at his lonely table to the side. "That's not a nice generalization to make, you two. Be nice," his look of deadpan became serious with only a slightly tightened jaw as he typed out a slow, thoughtful line. "These are the people protecting us." Kyouya regained his cool once again, but nobody gave signs they had notice him lose it in the first place.

"Welcome Namimori commoners," Tamaki quickly appeared within the center of the seating area, a rose in hand to use as his accent piece. Before he could get past his rather insulting yet unintentional naming of the status of their bodyguards, Kyouya closed his laptop and fetched Tamaki by pulling his ear. "Ow! Hey, hey! Kyou-ya~!" The blonde quickly reverted into a less suave state, almost crying for his ear back.

"I know you don't find anything wrong with your statements, but they're actually very insulting," Kyouya said. He quickly let go of the whining Tamaki and gently guided him to sit next to the other host members. "Hikaru, Kaoru, don't let your father embarrass himself."

With a perfect salute the twins answered, "Yes, mother!"

Hibari had already begun to toss out Nekozawa's clubroom items, only keeping the furniture to reorganize later. Besides the prefect, everyone else was seated with the host club members.

Reborn had already taken notice of the faux family aura that the group emitted, but he could tell it was not a fake front to simply gain more customers. His eyes caught onto the family game the host club played and he smirked at the fact; now only if the Vongola could be more like that, but he digressed.

Dino paced the perimeter of the third music room and with a gracefulness that could only be bought on when his subordinates were around. Either way, the Cavallone boss was musing over something that consumed his mind in an unpleasant manner.

"Is something wrong, Dino~?" The door had opened just as Dino passed it, revealing Ermanno to be the speaker.

"Are you all okay? I heard about the accident." Dino's serious facade gave way to a sigh of relief when Ermanno answered positively.

"We walked, believe it or not. Hayato played bodyguard for Tsuna!"

"Hey, Tsuna, Gokudera!" Yamamoto waved to the two, possibly the happiest person in the room. Ryohei offered his greeting in an extreme fashion, Reborn hitching a ride on his shoulder when he bounded up to the group.

"You're looking at the boxing captain of Namimori AND Ouran!" A show of exuberant air punches made Tsuna smile nervously and Gokudera growl at Ryohei to stop pestering the Tenth.

As the Namimori students crowded together, save Hibari, Ermanno pulled Dino out into the corridor. Dino let Ermanno lead him to an unused room. Even then Ermanno locked the room's door and ushered Dino to a small room within the larger room for their conversation.

"What's the matter?" Dino asked. His clumsy demeanor had left him at the door, now dominated by his more serious side.

"Trouble is already starting to brew. It may be wise to let the stubborn one go undercover as well. He may seem all talk, but his stubbornness is a strong point of his that keeps the nervous one calm," Ermanno related in one of his rare, longer lines.

Dino waited patiently for Ermanno to continue his talk after seeing his eyes squint in narrowed thought.

"Although it seems a bit too early to let Hayato onto the team. He seems to know something about the Lomazzo and that could prove useful later. Allow me to take him away from his group for a while, Dino."

It was a pleasantly made request and Dino did not see any reason why he should object it. Ermanno was trustworthy, despite his aloofness."Whenever you feel he's ready to join the rest, Ermanno."

They dipped their heads at the same time in consideration of the current situation. They knew little about the family they were up against, but it was obvious this mafia family were not playing. It was a serious threat, no matter how many lighthearted commentaries the children made.

Gokudera waited idly by the music room's doors. He had been planning exactly what he would say to Ermanno to convince him to let him do the undercover job along side Tsuna; the sniper had really given him a shock at what could happen to the Tenth. As collected as he seemed with his arms indignantly crossed over his chest, the moment Dino and Ermanno returned Gokudera began his barking mad plea to stay with the group."No can do, Hayato~" Ermanno smiled.

The Cavallone looked Gokudera squarely in the eye and gave a slight nod from beside Ermanno. It was out of Dino's hands whether or not Gokudera could stay or not. If Ermanno was supported by his boss, then Gokudera's arguments would fall on deaf ears.

"So, is everyone settled in?" Dino looked tired when he smiled at the chattering the amount of time Dino and Ermanno had been gone, the kids had introduce themselves and began to build up relationships. The most successful seemed to be Yamamoto, who was currently talking to Mori and Hunny animatedly about his beloved baseball. Ryohei had hit it off, strangely enough, with Tamaki. Their burning passions matched each other in fervor and really lent itself into their conversations, ignoring the mismatch of boxing and hospitality. Tsuna found a friend in Haruhi, both sitting quietly on the couch and sharing the odd tales each of their 'families' had to offer. Reborn sat at a table with Kyouya, looking more like he was doing business than fraternizing, and Hibari was locked away in his newly created Disciplinary Committee head quarters where the former home of the Black Magic club used to be.

The bodyguards that had rounded up their respective persons left after the new body guards had arrived, also leaving them in the supervision of Romario. The addition of Dino and Ermanno would have probably assured them even more.

"The game is set… it's time to play…" Ermanno sighed, turned on his heel, and left the music room, leaving Dino to ponder the melancholy in his tone.


End file.
